


Anicent Descendant (Reprise)

by ForeverSecrets



Category: Stargate Atlantis, Stargate SG-1
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-11-19
Updated: 2020-07-24
Packaged: 2021-01-31 12:18:21
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 3
Words: 5,375
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21446107
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ForeverSecrets/pseuds/ForeverSecrets
Summary: Ten years she spent in the darkness of the mountain complex because she technically doesn't exist. No birth certificate, no social security number, no form identification but Atlantis is the chance of being free. To become an actual person free from the fear of anyone on Earth discovering her, free from the legacy of her lineage, just ... free.
Relationships: Carson Beckett/Original Female Character(s)
Kudos: 11





	1. Busted

**Author's Note:**

  * For [MrsSevallanaSnape](https://archiveofourown.org/users/MrsSevallanaSnape/gifts).
  * Inspired by [Of Ancient Descent](https://archiveofourown.org/works/8479477) by [MrsSevallanaSnape](https://archiveofourown.org/users/MrsSevallanaSnape/pseuds/MrsSevallanaSnape). 

Annabelle’s excitement over the ancient outpost was too much like Daniel’s but Jack was happy she was finally able to see a little bit of the planet they call home. She and Daniel had been working together to help uncover the gate address for the lost city of Atlantis, he never thought in a million years she’d be leaving Earth. If he had, he might have let Daniel go instead of his own daughter. 

“Hey kid, you got a minute?” Daniel asked coming into Annabelle’s office at the SGC. 

“What’s up, Uncle Danny?” Annabelle asked, turning in her seat to look at him. 

“I have a proposition for you,” Daniel sat down so they were face to face. “All our hard work in Antarctica has led to Dr. Weir’s expedition. They are going to need all kinds of personnel, especially those with the ancient gene.”

“Okay?” Annabelle’s blonde brow scrunched up in confusion. 

“I’ve seen you handle ancient technology, your gene is just as strong as your dad’s and you mastered the language when you were seven years old. Have you thought about going on the mission?”

“I uh,” Annabelle was clearly stunned by the prospect. “Dr. Weir already-”

“Dr. Weir had asked me to be apart of the expedition but General O’Neil has refused Dr. Weir’s request.”

“If he isn’t letting you go, what makes you think my dad would let me go?” she laughed and turned back to her laptop. 

“Because we aren’t going to ask your dad. If you accept her offer, Elizabeth is going to get approval from the President. You’re not military, Jack is only your superior because you work at the SGC. You are technically a civilian and therefore don’t need his permission.” 

“You're asking me to go behind my parents back, seek out permission from their superiors to abandon them for the rest of my life? As of right now, Atlantis is a one-way trip.” 

“I know how it sounds but I also know you well enough to know you’ve spent way too long stuck in this complex. That trip to Antarctica wasn’t enough for you, the small escorted trips you take aren’t enough for you. In Pegasus, you wouldn’t need to ask for anyone’s approval before you stepped outside the door.”

“I’d be free of the shadow …” she whispered but Daniel heard. He grabbed her hand to offer her comfort, he understood. “I’ll do it, Daniel.” A small tear fell from the corner of her eye as she thought about potentially saying goodbye to everyone she knew. 

* * *

  
  


She couldn't believe she was doing this, packing to leave the galaxy in six hours. She still hadn’t told her parents, too afraid of their reactions. Sure they would understand to a point, by joining the SGC they risked their lives every day but if they made it back safely they could go home and spend time with whoever they wanted. She’d be giving all that up. A knock at her door made her dry her tears and open it to find her father standing there, she immediately tried to close the door when she realized he knew but he paced his hand on the door.

“Ah!” he rose a finger to stop her. 

“Hi, daddy.” she said sweetly, batted her eyelashes and tried to soften him.

“Don’t you daddy me, young lady!” he walked into her quarters and held out a piece of paper. “What’s this?” She grabbed the piece of paper from his hand and began reading. 

** _Personnel: Science and Research_ **

_ Rodney McCay-Chief Science Officer _

_ Radek Zelenka-2IC _

_ Gerald Baxter-Botanist _

_ Peter Kavanagh-Scientist _

_ Annabelle O'Neill-Carter-Linguist _

She stopped reading and looked up at her father. “A list of personnel working under Dr. Rodney McKay for the Atlantis Expedition.”

“And why is your name on that list?” 

“Because I’m part of the expedition.”

“The hell you are!” 

Annabelle resumed packing her father breathing down her neck as she did so. “I didn’t tell you because I knew you’d say, and I wanted this to be as painless as possible because this is something I have to do.” 

“Why?” 

“In Atlantis I will have a chance to break the ties of my lineage,” she looked sadly to her father. “I won’t have to ask you to take me fishing.”

He squinted at her, assessing her resolve. She was well aware of the risks and she had accepted everything she’d be giving up. He put himself in her shoes, thinking of how he’d feel if their situations were reversed. He’d done more impulsive things for less. ‘Ah Hell!’ 

“Who's going to tell your mother?” he groaned. 

“You're really okay with this?” she asked concerned. He did that acceptance nod he always did when he wasn’t entirely sold on an idea but he realized it was going to happen regardless of his opinion. 

“No, I’m not but I understand why.”

“Thank you, Daddy.” she wrapped her father into a hug and buried her face into his chest. He held her close and kissed the top of her head. 

“Don’t thank me yet, you get to be the one to tell your mom.” 

* * *

  
  


Bags all packed and five hours until go time, Annabelle went in search of her mother. Finding her in the mess eating with Teal’c and Daniel. She grabbed some fruit from the counter and sat down with everyone, greeting them. Anna met Daniel’s gaze and she nodded. 

“Hey, what are you up too?” Sam asked smiling. 

“I was actually looking for you guys,” she looked to each one of them before continuing. “I wanted to say goodbye.”

“Goodbye? Where are you going, child?” Teal’c asked. 

“I am joining the Atlantis Expedition.”

Dead silence filled the air, the tense atmosphere spreading to the tables surrounding them. Teal’c raised a single eyebrow, Daniel continued eating, while Sam remained frozen. Anna looked to Daniel for assistance but he offered none, he was forcing her to fly the coop on her own. 

“I need to do this and dad agrees.” 

“Does he,” Sam nodded her head her lips pressed tightly together. “I’ll have to speak with him about this.”

“Mom, I’m not a little girl anymore.”

“You’re only seventeen years old!” Sam snapped. 

“I’m technically twenty-two, at least that's what all my records indicate,” Anna sighed and turned to look fully at her mother trying to convey everything she felt through her blue eyes. “There is so much out there to learn and I want to help in any way I can. Besides, I grew up hearing stories about the Lost City of Atlantis from Daniel, I can’t stay here when I can live an actual fairy tale.” 

“We understand and are happy for you,” Daniel met Teal’c and Sam’s gaze before smiling at Anna.

“I believe you will be a profitable addition to the mission.” Teal’c conceded. 

“We really can’t talk you out of this?” Sam asked.

“Could anyone talk you out of joining the SGC?” Anna asked rhetorically. 

Anna kissed her mother's cheek and headed out with her apple. Her mother took the news better than Anna had anticipated but she didn’t want to risk Sam changing her mind so she headed back to her quarters but as she rounded a corner in the hall she ran into someone, falling on her ass and scattering the documents the individual was holding. Anna was quick to move to her knees and begin helping the person pick up the documents.

“I apologize, I wasn’t watching where I was going.” Anna apologized. 

“It’s quite alright, lass. Wasn’t paying attention myself.”

Anna looked up at the sound of a Scottish accent she only remembered from movies she’d watched. In front of her was a man, a little taller than herself with short brunette hair and clear blue eyes. He was attractive, his accent only making him more intriguing. Anna stumbled as she tried to get back on her feet and hand him his papers, her cheeks heating as she smiled at him. 

“I’m Annabelle,” she held her hand out to him, unaware of Teal’c and Daniel watching from further behind.

“Dr. Carson Beckett.” he smiled kindly back. “Thank you,” he took the papers from her hands.

“I should let you go,” she ran off awkwardly. She’d be more composed next time she ran into him, it wasn’t the first or the last time she’d found someone attractive. She started back on her path but right outside her door to her quarters she thought she should probably check in with Dr. McKay. 

She headed to the briefing room instead, not knocking on the door. It had become a bad habit for her to just walk around the base without regard for anyone or thing, one of the downsides to this being her home. She walked in on a meeting for the expedition, Rodney McKay sat beside two familiar faces. 

“Elizabeth,” a wide smile spread to her face as she walked over and hugged the woman. “How are you?”

“I’m good, you all set for this?” Elizabeth asked but Anna became very aware of the two men in the room watching them, Rodney McKay and Carson Beckett she’d met earlier. 

“Yes, I’m well I just wanted to reintroduce myself to Dr. McKay.” Anna gestured towards a sitting McKay.

“Reintroduce?” he asked confused. 

“Annabelle Carter-O'Neill, you uh what’s the word? You helped preserve my life when I was a child.” 

Recognition passed over his face, “Oh, right. Sam’s kid.” 

“Right,” Anna’s smile instantly drop, a sudden discomfort feeling her face. “I’m one of the linguists going on the expedition.”

“Linguist? Not an astrophysicist?” Rodney’s offhand comment had her turning in on herself.

“Science while interesting doesn’t interest me as much as history.” 

“So, it goes over your head.” 

“Rodney, that’s very rude.” Carson snapped at his friend. 

“It’s quite alright Dr. Beckett, Rodney isn’t entirely wrong. I’m sure if I had devoted my time and energy into pursuing that particular field of study I could have mastered astrophysics but as I did not study the subject,” Anna shrugged. “But I interrupted your meeting so I’m just going to go.” 

Annabelle left with a heavy heart, it was going to take more than leaving the Milky Way Galaxy to escape the expectations people would have set for a Carter. 

With Annabelle gone from the room, Rodney was met with the glares of Carson and Elizabeth. 

“What?” he asked, truly oblivious to the tone he’d given off. 

“You have something against Annabelle?” Elizabeth asked. 

“Not really,” he shrugged. “I helped her mother to halt a nanite problem Annabelle had as a child but we never did discover a way to reverse it.”

“Nanites?” Carson asked reaching for the medical files. “I don’t recall reading anything out of the ordinary in the medical files.”

“Nothing to be concerned about, we fixed the problem years ago. The most notable factor of her file would be her affinity with ancient technology.” 

“More than half of the expedition has the gene.” Elizabeth countered.

“But not everyone going on the expedition was conceived under the influence of alien technology and then raised inside the SCG.”

“Poor girl,” Carson sighed, thinking her story to be less than ideal. 


	2. 1. Prologue

Rules. There are rules to preserve human life, rules to enforce safety, rules to protect morals, but space travel-well it’s a little difficult to establish rules for the unknowns of the universe. Jack and Sam, unfortunately, fell into the category of people who had more rules to follow than regular civilians and that list grew with every new planet they explored. Sam was by the book, while Jack was more guided by his moral compass. So, when they realized they had a connection developing between the two of them, Jack restrained himself for her. She had a promising career and she loved the work she did, so he was content to stand beside her on the SG-1 Unit. He would never do anything to endanger her career, at least not without her consent, rules be damned, she was worth.

“Major Carter, let me rephrase my question. All the mission reports we received failed to mention this aphrodisiac that led to the position you currently find yourself in,” the man gestured to Sam’s barely protruding stomach. “So that has led the Air Force to believe you broke regulation, due to the timing of conception the Air Force has deemed the father to be Colonel O'Neil, is this correct?”

Sam’s face remained composed, prepared to lie to the man before her but he raised his head to stop her from speaking further. “And please, lying with only save you until Dr. Fraiser is instructed to determine the father.”

“P3X-779 was-”

“I don’t care about the planet Major, what I want to know is if-while  **under the influence of alien technology** , did you and your superior officer engage in sexual activities?”

Sam studied the brunette man, narrowing her eyes to see if she was really understanding the message he was trying to convey without implicating himself in their crime. His face was unfamiliar to her, so he wasn’t stationed at the SGC but if she was understanding correctly he knew who both she and Jack and all the many deeds they had done for Earth. 

“Yes, we engaged with the local populace of the planet and their food contained-”

“Many chemicals we’ve never heard of and the effects seemed to vary. Poor Dr. Jackson and Teal’c suffered memory loss and exhaustion while you and the Colonel lost were reverted to your most primal instincts but only recently received your memories back.” 

Sam nodded skeptically, not really believing the fabricated story he was telling. If only they had asked more questions before joining the festival they’d accidentally stumbled into. How many people's lives were they compromising because of one mistake? Not only would Jack and Sam be severely punished, so would every military personnel at the SGC at this rate. The brunette closed the file in front of him and stood. 

“Thank you for coming in Major Carter,” he led her to the door. “I wouldn’t want you to miss your appointment.” 

Sam nodded and headed for medical trying to not think about what she was about to do. She kept telling herself it was for the best, how could she raise a child when she barely had time to water plants? She didn’t even consult the Colonel before making this decision for both of them. She slowly undressed and grabbed the medical gown. There was already so much death, could she really end the life of an unborn child to save her own ass?

“Major Carter, are you alright in there?” one of the medical officers asked her through the door. 

Sam pressed her head against the door, closed her eyes and sighed heavily, “I changed my mind, tell Janet I’m keeping the baby.” 

“I will let Dr. Fraiser know.”

“What am I doing?” Sam whispered to herself. 

* * *

She was sleeping soundly, the newborn hadn’t woken her up once throughout the night, not as everyone had promised. Annabelle went down easy enough, she seemed a well-mannered baby but it was still the first day and the labor had been hell. It wasn’t her newborn in the bassinet beside her medical bed that woke Sam up, it was the frantic moving around of the staff.

“How is this possible?”

“Take a blood sample from both Major Carter and the child, find Colonel O'Neil and get a blood sample from him too.” Janet’s voice sounded worried so Sam sat up.

“What’s happening?” Sam asked. Janet’s response was to point at the two-day-old child who now looked more like a toddler than a newborn, then insist that Sam lay back down and rest. She needed more time to recover. 

Annabelle smiled up at Sam, “Mom!” and then clapped her hands. 

Sam’s heart dropped, something was definitely not right here. Several tests from mom, dad, and baby and six hours later Janet found what had caused the rapid aging. They had encountered this situation once before on Argos, where people aged a year in one day. Blood samples came back for Annabelle revealing active nanites. Dr. Fraiser’s theory that Colonel O’Niel’s dormant nanocytes had transferred during conception, and since Annabelle was conceived with them they wouldn’t be able to resolve the problem as they had with Jack. Eventually, his immune system killed the nanites in about a week but Annabelle? Her immune system depended on them presently.

Once Sam was informed of the news she immediately posted up in her office trying to find a solution to stop her daughters’ rapid aging while Jack did the opposite. It’s not that he didn’t have faith in Carter, he just wanted to make sure he got the most with his second chance. He spent every second he could with her, fighting tooth and nail to get approval to take her outside the base but every attempt was denied. Jack wasn’t so easy to dissuade, if he couldn’t bring his daughter on a fishing trip he’d bring it to her. Little Annabelle loved fishing in her makeshift aquarium bathtub with her dad.

“Mommy! Mommy! Look what Uncle Daniel-” Annabelle came to a halt when she entered her mother’s office and a strange man was standing there. The five-day-old girl froze, her blonde pigtails still bouncing against her handmade, green SGC jumpsuit. 

“Uh, yes. Hi-” The tall man held his hand out to her but the girl immediately jumped backward. 

“Belle, where’d you go?” Jack called out looking for his kid. When he turned into Carter’s office he found Rodney McKay standing awkwardly at Carters’ desk while his daughter was chewing on the ends of her hair in shyness. “Rodney?” Jack picked Annabelle up in his arms, “Where’s Carter?” He pulled her hair from her mouth giving her a stern look.

“She went to grab us lunch,” Rodney said smugly. 

“Right, how goes the research? We any closer to reversing this?” Jack bounce Annabelle making her smile.

“We might have found something but we need a little more time, assuming you want the specimen to survive.”

“She’s not a science experiment McKay, she’s a little girl.” Sam snapped as she entered with a tray of food. 

“Mommy!” Annabelle starting struggling against her father’s hold until he put her down. “Look what Uncle Daniel taught me!” Annabelle proudly held up a piece of paper with blocked symbols Sam recognized as Ancient but she couldn’t read it.

“Wow! What does it say?” Sam asked putting as much excitement into her voice as she could.

“Just my name, Uncle Daniel said he doesn’t want to teach me too much too fast.” Annabelle sighed like she was disappointed. 

“Well, you are the smartest 5-year old I know.” Sam tapped her daughter on the nose.

“I’m not five years old,” Annabelle crossed her arms upset her mother didn’t know how old she was. 

“Right,” Sam sighed heavily. 

“Come on Belle, let mom and Rodney work. Want some cake?” Jack pulled Annabelle by her hand before Sam could get stuck in the depressed of reality. 

“Yeah!” 

And off they went, Sam watching solemnly as they disappeared. 

* * *

Two days later they discovered the answer, they could inactivate the nanites in her bloodstream with a small EMP. Unfortunately, this only stopped the nanites from continuing their job, it didn’t reverse the effects already in place. Sam continued for six months working on reversing the effects before her friends and coworkers sat her down and convinced her to enjoy the time she had left with Annabelle. The poor kid was confined to the compound and still didn’t get to spend much time with her mother due to her determination. Sam finally conceded, choosing to redirect her efforts to join Jack in receiving approval to take her off base. 

It wasn’t until Annabelle was the equivalent to ten years old that the privilege was offered and Jack finally got to take her on her first fishing trip. Fishing and camping turned out to be her favorite hobbies, sometimes all of SG-1 would attend but mostly just her and her father. Her mother spent their free time homeschooling her, with the help of other scientists on base the SGC had become a school for her since she couldn’t attend a normal school. Teal’c took it upon himself to become a sort of Jedi master to her, teaching her patience and self-defense but his parenting skills weren’t the best. Daniel is where she spent most of her free time, Annabelle had quickly developed a fascination with history and anything having to do with it. 

At fifteen years old the Air Force pulled some strings for the girl who had no public identification and enrolled her in college courses with professors who had received a high enough clearance. The question was, what would she study? Her father was a military man through and through but his love of astronomy was passed on to her and her mother was an Air Force scientist that had been trying to encourage Annabelle to follow suit. What a shock it was when Annabelle took a major in linguistics with a minor in ancient civilizations. 

But when she finished school with her degrees and having mastered multiple languages what was there was a sort of 22 year old to do? She couldn’t get a job in the outside world, they couldn’t run a background check on her. She was able to join the Air Force but even her boot camp would be separated from her peers. So, Annabelle sought out the man she considered her grandfather; General George Hammond. 

George Hammond had a soft spot for the girl he’d watched grow up and sympathized with her lack of options. He went as high as he could vouching for her, turns out the President himself thought it to honestly be the only option for someone of her status. So, Annabelle was given an office at the SGC and Dr. Carter-O’Niel became a research assistant for artifacts and languages brought back from the Stargate. But even in her adulthood, she found herself confined to the SGC, that is until an opportunity presented itself.


	3. Locking in Her Furture

“Chevron one encoded.”

Excitement bubbled up inside her, all those long days studying and researching with Daniel and she was about to see the fruits of their labor. Weeks of translations, more weeks of interpretations, and searching, so much searching.

“Chevron two encoded.”

What would she find on the other side? Would the ancients be there waiting for them, to see how far they had come? Would they be leaving one galaxy full of problems for another? Or were there actually places out there where peace was as common speech?

“Chevron three encoded.”

Her palms were sweaty and her heart was pounding in her chest as she watched the great ring spin around. There was a time when she was much younger than now when she had held Grandpa George Hammond's hand as her mother and father went up the ramp and off to some unknown planet. She had wanted to be just like them, fighting bad aliens and making new friends, advancing civilization.

“Chevron four encoded.”

Her parents? Once she stepped through those gates there was a very high probability she’d never seen them again. Daniel, Teal’c, Hammond, Cassandra? They’d all be lost to her, was she really ready to sacrifice all of her loved ones

“Chevron five encoded.”

She looked around her all the men and women who were giving just as much if not more than her for this mission. Everyone going to Atalntis had a purpose and believed wholeheartedly in what they were doing. They were all sure, most full of excitement. Was she the only one who was questioned herself.

“Chevron six encoded.”

Annabelle looked down at herself, she wore her new standard issue Atlantis uniform, the designated color area on her uniform was white, indicating she was a linguist. Her entire team would have the standard issue uniform, there designated color all being white. She liked the uniform enough but she had also brought along normal everyday clothing and shoes.

“Chevron seven encoded.”

She rocked back and forth on her heels anxious to get this all over and done with. She either wanted to be in Atlantis, already missing her family, or here wishing she was in Atlantis helping where she could. But if she was being completely honest with herself she was kind of hoping this wouldn’t work. It was a big thing to ask someone to give up everything they’d ever known and most of her colleges would do it without a second thought. Maybe her doubts were proof enough that she shouldn’t be going.

“Chevron right locked.”

She turned to look at the gate room one last time and was reminded of the shadow that loomed over her life. Annabelle's gaze was turned to the M.A. L.P. as it jerked to life entering the wormhole. As soon as it is confirmed that the other side is habitable Colonel Sumner stepped up to address everyone.

“Let's go, people. We don't know how much time we've got. Security teams one and two, you're up first. All other personnel will follow on our signal. Once on the other side, keep moving, clear the debarkation area. On my lead.”

Annabelle looked to Elizabeth hoping she would put the man in his place, because he was clearly power-hungry. She couldn't believe he had been selected to run the military operations, then again they were probably just trying to get rid of him. If she was recalling correctly, her father despised this man.

“Hold on, Colonel.” Elizabeth joined him just before entering the event horizon. “We go through together.” Sumner cleared his throat and nodded, both was Elizabeth going to have her hands full with this guy.

"Expedition team. Move out.” Her father's voice makes her eyes seek him out. He is already staring at her, studying her for any signs of doubt. Telling her it isn't too late to change her mind, that he would send Daniel in her place (despite him refusing Daniel over and over again.).

A few silent tears fell, she's already said her goodbyes and now it's time to move on. Her mother is weeping though she hears no sound, Daniel smiling brightly though his eyes shows his desire to be coming along, and Teal'c … Teal’c is stoic but she knows he will miss her. Her father doesn’t cry, just has a forced smile on his face as his eyes betray the disarray happening in his mind. She forces herself to look away, knowing she would cave if she continued to look at everything she was leaving behind. She severely hoped they knew how much she loved them. She wasn't doing this to be rebellious or out of spite, that she knew for a fact.

Annabelle picked up her two cases having already secured the pack on her back, and headed up the ramp. Each step she took caused her more grief until finally she closed her eyes and stepped through the event horizon. Those who loved her watched intently and unblinking as she disappeared, unbelieving in the fact that she'd done it, she was gone.

The familiar discomfort of wormhole travel overtook her form and she spit out the other end, trying not to vomit as she did most of the time, her cheeks were glistening with tears. Non-military personnel had gathered to one side of the massive room while the armed soldiers raised their weapons, looking around and awaiting orders. Colonel Sumner was already barking out commands as his teams began securing the area.

“Find an open space and park it until instructed otherwise.”

Annabelle obeyed, putting her cases down to rest her arms. Light sprang to life throughout the room, the event common for the ancients but beautifully new to Annabelle's eyes. She couldn't help thinking the design of the building would be great for parties.

“General O'Neill. Atlantis base offers greetings from the Pegasus Galaxy. You may cut power to the Gate.” Elizabeth says into the radio.

As soon as Elizabeth said the words a champagne bottle rolled out of the wormhole coming to hit Annabelle’s foot. She bent down to pick it up, a label on top reading Bon Voyage! General Jack O'Neill. Smiling she handed the bottle to Elizabeth whose smile matched her own.

* * *

“Rodney!Is there anything I can do to help?” Annabelle snapped at him trying to get his attention as the world around them erupted into chaos, he however continued to ignore her.

“Even if you can get the naquadah power generators up and running, it's still not going to be enough!” he yelled at one of the other scientists.  
Annabelle wasn’t going to fight him, everyone was highly stressed and panicking. It hadn’t taken them long to realize that the city was completely submerged underwater and the ZPM’s powering the city's shields were all almost completely depleted. Once the last ZPM failed they would all drown as water flooded the city.

“The shield is collapsing!” Rodney’s voice broke through the chaos. Annabelle sat down in front of a laptop and the screen read the words ‘SHIELD FAILURE IMMINENT’.

Since walking through the gate, everything had all happened so fast. In a way it was good, this horrible experience was weeding out the weaklings and elevating the strong. Annabelle hadn’t even thought about trying to impress anyone, she was doing what she always did in crises, she looked for a need and filled it. She was always the first one to volunteer when danger was afoot, if not an emergency she would have thought about all the pros and cons before offering herself.

“I'm dialling an address.” Gordin, a gate technician said.

“No, wait!” Elizabeth placed her hand on his shoulder, listening intently.

“She's right.” Rodney’s voice was full of disbelief.

Annabelle looked around confused until she felt the city rumbling, looking at the monitors she realized the city was rising. She braced herself against the panel in front of her as the city rose, but remained standing. Water quickly dash down the sides of the walls as the city came to rest on the surface of the vast ocean. The final jerk has her losing her grip, she fell hard, her head hitting the panel she had clung to.

“Ow!” Annabelle’s fingers instantly went to her head to assess the damage. She pulled her hand away feeling the sticky wetness, her fingers revealed her own blood but the pain was minimal. She assumed she’d have a killer headache but no concussion. She picked herself up from the floor and looked towards the windows to see the sunshine.

The city had raised completely out of the water, the power problem no longer relevant for now. Everyone not helping Sheppard with the rescue mission was exploring the city, to ensure there would be no more surprises. Annabelle went with her team to find offices and sleeping quarters, a level down she discovered halls upon halls of rooms.

"Elizabeth, I found sleeping quarters” Annabelle spoke into the com attached to her ear. “One level down from you.” Elizabeth acknowledged but that was it. The city was so big it would take months to explore everything and everyone was vying for Elizabeth’s attention. Annabelle's head began to throb and she was reminded of her head injury. Sighing, she went in search of the medical team, she found someone wearing a yellow uniform and motioned to her head.

"Excuse me?”she approached the women slowly. The doctor's eyes instantly went to the dried blood on Annabelle's forehead.

"You need stitches,” the woman said searching through her med kit.

"I just need Advil, don't want to take you away from everyone else.” Annabelle said as she looked around at all the injured people.

"Are you sure?” the doctor was skeptical but Annabelle was blowing off her injury as if it was of no consequence, and given her coherent stability the woman conceded. "Alright but no sleeping until we get a proper look at you, Carson will kill me for this but we have a lot of injuries.”

Annabelle took the medication and went back to work.


End file.
